Earnings

Thank you, Liz.

I don't need eBay to "insure" what I sell.
Since I'm really a private seller, meaning I sell very little (I'm not a store that sells privately to avoid taxes), I go to the post office two or three times a week with a few items and ask for Proof of Postage. If Royal Mail loses or breaks an item, I file a claim. So far, Royal Mail has paid every claim I've filed, previously with a bank check and, for some time now, with stamps. When they pay me with stamps, they send me roughly double the value of the loss in stamps. If I sold something for 5 or 6 pounds, they send me eight first-class letter stamps, about £12.80. I use those stamps for second-class large letters (£1.55). I add a note next to the stamp explaining that the stamp covers the value of second-class large letters. And I've never had any problems.
Now everything will be more expensive for the buyer, I'll have to leave eBay.
Can anyone advise me on where to sell online in the UK, and where it'll be effective? Another option is to sell my things as job lots, at very low prices to clear my stock.

With all these changes, I'll have to stop selling on eBay. I sell many inexpensive items, like keychains, which I used to sell for between £2.50 and £3 including shipping. Now I have to add over 80p for the new fees. Since the keychains are flat, I send them as second-class mail for 85p. I'm sure with the "simple" system, they'll charge buyers a first-class "large letter" service of £2.60 (Royal Mail) or maybe £2 in Evri or Yodel.
I'm sure "Simple" will raise shipping costs for buyers, effectively driving private sellers out of the market with noncompetitive prices. Another problem is that I live in a village and there's only a post office. I won't spend a drop of petrol shipping packages miles away because the buyer chooses another shipping company. And if the option is for the buyer to pay even more to have someone pick up what I sold from my house, it will be impossible to sell. And add to that, having to wait for someone who will come to pick up the package whenever they want. Or will I leave it lying outside the door? Because now the custom is for the delivery person to leave everything lying right outside your door. They don't even ring the bell anymore. And if you're lucky, it's your door and not someone's in another town.